Something for Nothing Flog It: Trade Secrets


Something for Nothing

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Over the last 11 years on Flog It, we've made nearly 1,000 shows.

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We've seen literally hundreds of thousands of items

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and we've helped you sell around £1 million worth of antiques and collectables.

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So, in this series, I want to share with you

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some of the information and knowledge that we've collected

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to help you get in the know. Welcome to Flog It! Trade Secrets.

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On today's show, we're giving you the inside track on bargain buys,

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how to spot them and where to buy them,

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and also what you might have in your house

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that could be worth a small fortune.

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'We'll be looking at some of the best bargain buys Flog It has ever seen.'

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£5. Really.

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'Outrageous.'

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But lucky her!

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'Our experts pass on their wisdom to help you bag a bargain of your own.'

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Quality and the unusual and you can't go wrong.

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'Stay watching and all will be revealed.'

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-AUCTIONEER:

-720. 740...

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There's one thing we love to see on Flog It - the bargain buys.

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And I've learned that you have to keep your eyes peeled at all times

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because there are wonderful treasures out there just waiting to be picked up

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for as little as a few pounds in charity shops,

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car-boot sales, auction rooms and antique shops.

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It's staggering what's out there.

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TRUMPET SPLUTTERS

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'So, what are our experts' secrets for getting a bargain?'

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The important thing is to look everywhere.

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A fair or a car-boot, look under the table or at the bottom of the box.

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Look even behind the vendor. They may not have unpacked a box

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and you might spot something poking out behind them that you can show an interest. So use your eyes.

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Buy something that nobody else knows.

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You've got to get down on your hands and knees,

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rummage under tables, have a good rummage through those boxes.

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It feels like Christmas every day when you're having a good rummage.

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It's fantastic.

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So here are some of our very best finds

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and what you can learn from them.

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Often on Flog It, people bring in things

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which they have bought maybe at a car-boot sale

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or in a charity shop.

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And it's always wonderful when these things go to auction

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and get enormous prices. And I had one such item.

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This is a very interesting little brooch.

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I think it's absolutely gorgeous.

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In fact, I think it might just suit my jacket.

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Absolutely!

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The lady had picked it up because she liked it and she found it attractive.

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I actually got it in an adjacent town at a car-boot sale

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within the last 12 months. It was just lying there on the stall.

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Apparently there'd been a lot of really good stuff.

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He said, "You've missed it all." That was just there and it was £4.

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-£4. That's not a lot of money.

-No. Indeed, no.

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When I first looked at it, I thought it might have been Russian,

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but when we looked at the marks on the back,

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we realised that it had been made by Marius Hammer,

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who was one of the most prestigious Norwegian silversmiths.

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We have an M and a little hammer.

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And we have the mark 930,

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which is the silver mark.

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The Norwegians and the Swedish were wonderful with enamelled work

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and this is representing that type of work.

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'This was a highly collectable item.'

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I couldn't believe that she'd only paid £4 for it.

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It's a very finely-crafted piece.

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We have a maker's name.

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-It's in the original box.

-Yes.

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Taking all these factors into account,

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I would estimate it 80 to 120.

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-So it was quite a good investment for £4.

-It certainly was, wasn't it?

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'Scandinavian jewellery appeals to collectors

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'because of the quality.'

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The quality was always there and the design was always there.

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'At £4, that brooch was a real steal.

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'But was it the car-boot bargain of the day that Anita thought?'

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100. And 10.

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-120. 130. 140.

-Wow!

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150. 160. 170.

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180. At £180, are we all done?

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180.

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-HAMMER BANGS

-Yes! £180!

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You see, a lot of people don't know the value of 20th-century modern...

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It's like darts! 180!

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What I always say to people is, see if you can spot the unusual items -

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the items that make you think, "What's that?" or, "That's amazing!"

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So quality and the unusual

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and you can't go wrong.

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'Great advice from Anita there.

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'What about David Fletcher's trade secrets?'

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The lesson is, I think, that you turn these things upside-down,

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you look for silver marks, you look for gold marks,

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manufacturer's marks and so on.

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You know, use what knowledge you've got

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and use the very business of going to car-boot sales to improve that knowledge.

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Wow, this is a stylish thing, isn't it?

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A cigarette lighter, of course.

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Tell me how you came to own it.

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Well, last year we were at a car-boot sale and wandering around

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and picked it up because I thought it was a cute piece

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which was up for sale for £7.

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-£7?

-Yes. And the boyfriend bartered it down to £4.

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Outrageous. But lucky her!

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I'm pretty certain it's by Dunhill, and what's more,

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it looks to me that it was made between the wars.

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It's sort of in the Art Deco style.

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Reminds me a bit of a skyscraper.

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You know, that very modern style of architecture that was sweeping America in the 1930s.

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Very understated base

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and capital, really, echoing the sort of architectural theme.

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But above all else, it's just a cool thing to own.

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Smoking was in itself stylish.

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And that particular cigarette lighter was one of the earliest ones to be manufactured

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so you could just use one hand.

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There's a sort of elegance about it, isn't there, really?

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It's funny that we should associate it with smoking,

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which is today not considered to be politically correct or in itself at all elegant.

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It's clearly marked Dunhill

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and it also states on the base, "Cartier Licence"

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so that means it was made under licence to a Cartier design.

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And we also have the assay mark,

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which tells us that it's nine-carat gold.

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Cartier is one of those big brands.

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I think it was Edward VII who said,

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"Cartier is a jeweller for kings and the king of jewellers."

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And very fitting that a Dunhill lighter,

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which itself is a brand associated with quality and style and class,

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should in this instance tie up with Cartier.

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I think it's worth somewhere between £250 and £350.

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'But how much did this bargain buy go for?'

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A nine-carat gold Dunhill Cartier tallboy lighter.

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London, 1934, with the engine-turn case.

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I've got two commission bids.

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-(That's good.)

-I'm starting it at 4...

-4?

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460 starts me.

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-That's great.

-At 460. 480 now.

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At 460. At 460.

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-HAMMER BANGS

-Bang! Sold!

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-Well, your chap turned a good profit on that.

-Yes, he did.

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The auction finished very quickly. I was very surprised.

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But that's the way it is. There were bidders out there who wanted it

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and they were falling over themselves to buy it.

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'Not bad for a £4 investment.

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'Now, one of my top tips is always look for a good name,

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'like Cartier or Dunhill.

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'There's an immediate cachet and value.'

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'In 2006, Thomas Plant found a real bargain and a real haggler.'

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How much did you pay for it at the car-boot sale?

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The lady wanted £8 but I negotiated down to a fiver.

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Why was that? Why was the negotiation in there?

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Because it's sort of like a matter of principle, really.

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If you're a car-booter, you always want to get the best deal.

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When they've told you they'd bought it for a fiver,

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they're either really relaxed

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or become incredibly greedy

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and want everything for it, want the top, top dollar.

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I found it at a car-boot sale last summer, rummaging around,

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and I knew it was something nice, but I didn't know exactly what it was.

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Richard was very relaxed and a very affable man.

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It's a piece of Art Nouveau pewter made by the factory Kayserzinn.

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Kayserzinn is a German manufacturer.

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They made pewter in the Art Nouveau style

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in the late 19th, early 20th century.

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Now, we can call it Art Nouveau, or the German word, which is Jugendstil.

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-Right.

-The young style. And it's got all the typical attributes

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of any Art Nouveau or Jugendstil piece.

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You have the sinuous flowing lines here,

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which the fish have made through swimming in it, and then the other interesting thing is the decoration.

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The decoration is asymmetrical. That's very typical of the Art Nouveau period.

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-Do you know where that comes from?

-No.

-Japanese plates...

-Oh, right.

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..or Japanese design and Chinese is asymmetrical.

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If you look at their designs, they don't always fold.

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Here in the West, we love things which match.

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We're obsessed by it. Look at our mantelpieces.

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-That's right.

-Fire, mirror, vases. Match, fold them on each other.

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And here, they've really sort of turned it on its head.

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Decoration here, bulrushes, and then some more here.

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It would've been better if you had a naked lady on here,

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which is a real femme fatale,

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real motif of the Art Nouveau period. But they were interested in nature.

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And this shows that this is a fish dish, it's got fish on it.

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I think I was quite mean with my estimate.

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What do you think it's worth?

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Well, I guess £25, £30, something like that.

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I think a bit more. I think 40 to 60, something like that.

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-That's good news.

-Cos it's a popular thing, Art Nouveau.

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He was going to spend his £40 on wine, women and squander the rest, I think.

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'That's my kind of man. So how much did that bargain platter,

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'picked up for £5, make at auction?'

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We've got this pewter fish dish.

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130. 140. 150. 160.

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-This is good.

-170.

-This is...

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180. 190.

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-£200.

-Ooh!

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-For £200, then.

-HAMMER BANGS

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-That's superb! Good find!

-Thank you very much.

-Well done!

-Thank you.

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It made a whopping £200 at auction. Well done him.

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And in the end, he gave the money to charity.

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'Even if you don't know anything about an antique, don't be put off.

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'You may find the thing you like could be worth a small fortune.

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'Elizabeth Talbot came across something special

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'which proved to be just such a thing.'

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What can you tell me about your wonderful sugar caster?

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Erm, all I can tell you is that I got it from a car-boot

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probably about four years ago,

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and I just liked it so I bought it for a fiver.

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-£5, really?

-It was £7.50.

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-And you beat them down.

-To five!

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On the bottom, Moorcroft with a signature

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and the "Made in England" impressed into the bottom.

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So it's beautifully documented.

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And it's amazing nobody else spotted it. You must have been secretly jumping up and down.

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-Well, I didn't know what it was.

-Right.

-I just assumed it was something to do with sugar or flour.

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When they know nothing at all, you have a clean sheet

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with which to unveil the true story for them,

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and that's really, really satisfying.

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As a professional valuer and cataloguer,

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that gives real satisfaction on a personal level.

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The use of the combination with pewter

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links it back to the early days when, in the early 1900s,

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they produced a lot of items for outlets such as Liberty's,

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and I was rather hoping that I'd find a Liberty mark on this

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but I can't find any stamp on that.

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But certainly the combination suggests that it's a nice early 20th-century example.

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In terms of a piece of Moorcroft, anything which is culinary

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or, sort of, more unusual

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obviously is quite a find.

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One tends to find bowls and vases,

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whereas a sugar caster is a little bit more exciting.

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Pieces which were more intricate or more unusual

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'were made is smaller numbers

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'and therefore, by definition, there were fewer to start with,'

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so they have greater value.

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I'd have said it should make between 300 and £400 quite comfortably.

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-Right.

-And it might do a little bit more,

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but 300 to 400 I think is a realistic pre-auction estimate.

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-It's a good return for a £5 note.

-It is!

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'Well, let's see.'

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-That's such a good spot in an old junk shop, was it?

-No, a car-boot.

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-260. 280. 300.

-It's climbing, Sue.

-300 this side.

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320. 340. 360.

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380. 400.

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It's nice when something just takes off

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and you feel it's caught the imagination of the market.

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600. 620.

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640. 660.

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It literally is electric in the room.

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-At 840. 860. 880.

-Are you all right?

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900. 900.

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-950. Make it 1,000.

-You're shaking.

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At 1,000. At £1,000!

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-Done, then, at £1,000?

-You're going to settle for that, aren't you?

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-HAMMER BANGS

-Sue! Wonderful!

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It's wonderful to see the response of the owner who is selling,

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because in many cases, it's true delight from them, too.

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-How fantastic is that?

-That's fantastic!

-Absolutely brilliant.

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So here's what we've learnt so far.

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'Look for quality and good names.

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'Don't be afraid to try and haggle down the price.

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'And buy things which appeal to you personally.

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'That sugar shaker proved to be a brilliant buy.

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'Bought for £5 and sold for £1,000.'

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'A canny shopper can usually pick up a bargain

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'if they know what to look for.'

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So here's another trade secret.

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I think, to a new collector, it's always going to be a spoon.

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But in this case, a particular type of spoon.

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At the moment, 18th-century table spoons are very undervalued.

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And you can still buy beautiful examples like this.

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This is a Newcastle spoon, old English pattern,

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made by Langlands & Robertson in 1778.

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And you can see, it's got an absolutely pristine set of hallmarks

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on the back of the stem.

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The bowl's got its original tip,

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there's no wear, there's no damage to it.

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And when that was made, it would be the equivalent today of £300 or £400.

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£50, £60 will buy that.

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And actually, in scrap weight in just the silver,

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if you went over it with a steam roller,

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there's £38 worth of silver in it, so you're actually paying £12 or £22

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for an 18th-century masterpiece.

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So it's very undervalued at the moment.

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Probably not after this goes out. There'll be a stampede and they'll be £500 each.

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But if you want to start collecting silver, which is always prohibitively expensive,

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this is where the smart money is at the moment.

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At every valuation day,

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our experts wow us with their depth and breadth of knowledge.

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They seem to know pretty much everything.

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But where does all this expertise come from?

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We're spending the day with Flog It favourite Philip Serrell,

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who learned to buy and sell bargains wheeling and dealing on the hoof.

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I think the expression is,

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"Worcester born, Worcester bred,

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"strong on the arm, thick in the head."

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I've spent the whole of my life in and around the county and I really, really love it.

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50 then, at 50, please. At 5, down at 45...

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I started in Worcester livestock market

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and my first boss was a very, very forgetful man

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and he told me to come to work on the Monday morning

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wearing a pin-stripe suit, so I did.

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First day at work, he sent me to the market, here.

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And I ended up in one of these pens in a 48-hour-old pin-stripe suit.

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And, well, without going into too much detail,

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you can see what the back end of a sheep looks like in this weather.

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Most of it was deposited all over my brand-new suit.

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I can look back at this now quite fondly, but at the time,

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up to your thighs in the back end of a sheep, not good.

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At 45 here. 6. 7.

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47 bid. Right the way...

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My very first day, I can remember

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watching the sheep and the cattle being sold

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and I swear, it was about four months before I ever saw anybody bid.

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You come to the refined atmosphere of a fine art auction room

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and everyone's holding their paddle like this.

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You try and spot a bidder here. It's all...

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It's all this stuff. It's done it code.

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It's a secret society, I'm convinced of it.

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The thing about animals and me is

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they either kick me or they bite me.

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Vases don't do that.

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I think the thing that does it for me about being an auctioneer

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is the people that you meet.

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But also, for that short period of time before you sell something,

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you have a massive, ever-changing collection of items.

0:18:430:18:48

And it's the opportunity to perhaps hold things and see things and appreciate things

0:18:480:18:53

and they're yours for that very instant of time before you sell them, and that's lovely.

0:18:530:18:57

It's not so much what something is

0:18:570:18:59

but it's the social history of something.

0:18:590:19:02

It's not the chair but it's whose bum's been on the chair,

0:19:020:19:05

and that's what I love.

0:19:050:19:07

Most people think of house clearances -

0:19:080:19:11

big castles and country houses,

0:19:110:19:13

but sometimes ordinary properties need clearing, and this is an example.

0:19:130:19:17

I first came here about three years ago to look at a single item

0:19:170:19:20

and now the family want me to advise them on clearing what's left in this property.

0:19:200:19:24

HE KNOCKS ON DOOR

0:19:270:19:29

-This was my mother-in-law's house.

-So basically, all of her belongings are here.

0:19:320:19:36

-All of her belongings.

-And you now need it just cleared.

-We just need it cleared.

0:19:360:19:40

-I have found...

-Is that a Wedgwood service?

0:19:430:19:46

It IS a Wedgwood service. So is that silver?

0:19:460:19:49

-What do you reckon?

-Hmm...it's quite heavy.

0:19:490:19:52

-So am I.

-THEY LAUGH

0:19:520:19:54

A spider's nest.

0:19:550:19:58

In truth, I don't think there's too much of massive value in here.

0:19:580:20:01

But you never know what you're going to find, do you? Let's see what else we can come across.

0:20:010:20:05

My mother-in-law claimed she wasn't a hoarder but her father was.

0:20:110:20:14

There are some things in life that are assets and there are some things that are liabilities,

0:20:140:20:18

and I think a lot of this falls into the... Although, that's nice. That's an old croquet set, 19th-century.

0:20:180:20:24

-Yeah.

-And a set of crown green bowls.

0:20:240:20:27

I wanted the Beano, the Dandy, the Hornet or the Victor, right?

0:20:340:20:38

And my dad made me have Look And Learn cos he thought it would make me intellectual. He failed.

0:20:380:20:42

Ooh. Here we are. I can see through those. I'm going to keep these.

0:20:420:20:47

That's interesting. If I'm right, that's a microscope in there.

0:20:500:20:53

-Well, she was a scientist.

-Was she?

-A horticulturalist, so she did a lot of botany and biology.

0:20:530:20:58

That would be quite exciting, if that was her microscope, wouldn't it?

0:20:580:21:01

Let's have a look. Oh, that's cool, isn't it?

0:21:010:21:04

That's just fantastic. For me, this is the crown jewels.

0:21:040:21:08

So what are these in here? These are her slides.

0:21:090:21:12

Don't know what that is. What on earth is that?

0:21:130:21:16

-What do you think that is?

-Could be spores from a mushroom.

-Is it?

0:21:160:21:20

Possibly.

0:21:200:21:21

-Did you know this was here?

-No.

0:21:230:21:25

-Here's a decision for you.

-There's so much that I didn't know about.

0:21:250:21:29

-So is this going to stop or go?

-It can go.

0:21:290:21:32

I've got to tell you, if I was in your shoes, I'd struggle to sell that.

0:21:320:21:36

The but is,

0:21:360:21:37

if you didn't sell it and you were sentimental and you kept it,

0:21:370:21:41

what's going to happen to it? Well, you'd do that...

0:21:410:21:45

and then you'd put it under a bed or on top of the wardrobe

0:21:450:21:48

and it probably would never see light of day again.

0:21:480:21:51

And the one thing she did say before she died

0:21:510:21:54

was not to keep things just because they were hers

0:21:540:21:57

but to make sure that somebody else who might enjoy them got the opportunity to have them.

0:21:570:22:01

That's fantastic.

0:22:010:22:02

That was a lovely job to do. And the real joy is, you get back to the saleroom

0:22:210:22:24

and you just never know what surprise you're going to find when you start unwrapping things.

0:22:240:22:28

So, fingers crossed.

0:22:280:22:30

At most auctions there's often one sale which takes everybody's breath away,

0:22:430:22:47

and, like you, I want to find out more about how one object

0:22:470:22:51

can change the life for its owner.

0:22:510:22:53

So here's one that really stands out for me.

0:22:530:22:55

'Sometimes the biggest bargains of all are those lurking in your own home.

0:22:580:23:02

'Unloved and unwanted antiques

0:23:020:23:05

'can be the key to fulfilling your dreams.

0:23:050:23:07

'Barbara, who came to our Stockport valuation day,

0:23:070:23:10

'was one of those lucky ones.'

0:23:100:23:13

Why should I settle down when I'm still quite active and fit

0:23:150:23:20

and I want to see these countries and I have the opportunity to see them?

0:23:200:23:24

Barbara...

0:23:240:23:26

-this has been in pride of place in your jewellery box, is that right?

-Erm, not quite.

0:23:260:23:31

I had a necklace from my mother which I'd never seen her wear

0:23:310:23:35

and I didn't really like it.

0:23:350:23:37

So we decided to take it to Flog It.

0:23:370:23:41

Where's it been all these years?

0:23:410:23:43

It's been in a little box, in a polythene bag,

0:23:430:23:46

buried under my waterproofs as a hiding place.

0:23:460:23:51

Well, I think that's disgraceful!

0:23:510:23:52

-I'm sorry.

-To keep such an elegant piece of jewellery under your waterproofs.

0:23:520:23:57

-I'm sorry.

-That's all right. We'll forgive you. You brought them in. You've redeemed yourself!

0:23:570:24:02

They're not British, they are Italian.

0:24:020:24:04

Now, the Italians and the Romans have been making this sort of jewellery

0:24:040:24:08

for hundreds and hundreds of years.

0:24:080:24:10

They've been using mosaics and micro-mosaics,

0:24:100:24:13

and this is what we have here.

0:24:130:24:15

-We have little micro-mosaics set into, I think, cornelian...

-Right.

0:24:150:24:20

-..which is a type of agate.

-Right.

0:24:200:24:22

And we have little panels of birds

0:24:220:24:25

and then some sort of classical scene and then another bird.

0:24:250:24:28

-Yeah.

-And a matching pair of earrings with birds in them again.

-Yes.

0:24:280:24:32

And they sit beautifully here,

0:24:320:24:35

as we can see, with these little gold swags.

0:24:350:24:37

And on the back we've got a little swing.

0:24:370:24:40

I mean, they're lovely quality.

0:24:400:24:42

In terms of date,

0:24:420:24:44

I think they're going to date to the Edwardian period.

0:24:440:24:46

-Oh, right.

-Value. I'd like to put 200 to 300 on them.

0:24:460:24:51

-Really?

-Would that be OK with you?

-That would be lovely.

0:24:510:24:53

And we'll put a 200 discretionary reserve cos we don't want to give them away.

0:24:530:24:57

-Oh, no, no.

-We don't want them to sell for nothing.

0:24:570:25:00

-Is there a long-held ambition you'd like to put it towards?

-Yes.

0:25:000:25:04

I've always had fascination for Japan.

0:25:040:25:07

I wouldn't spend it on the house and things.

0:25:090:25:11

The things I've got will last me.

0:25:110:25:13

One is getting older.

0:25:130:25:15

You can cut that bit out. SHE LAUGHS

0:25:150:25:19

It was fantastic. We went early so we could get the atmosphere

0:25:230:25:26

and see what was happening and see how the things were being sold.

0:25:260:25:29

It was great.

0:25:310:25:32

Going under the hammer, the most exquisite micro-mosaic necklace and earrings belonging to Barbara

0:25:320:25:37

who needs to go to Japan.

0:25:370:25:39

And then when it was my turn,

0:25:390:25:41

it started off OK, I was all excited.

0:25:410:25:43

It's a lovely lot, this, a 19th-century yellow metal necklace

0:25:450:25:48

with the micro-mosaic hard stone panels with the matching earrings.

0:25:480:25:51

Micro-mosaic stuff's making great prices at the moment, I find,

0:25:510:25:54

and very, very popular. And what a lovely set this is.

0:25:540:25:57

Lot 760. I'm bid £200. Take 220 next.

0:25:570:26:01

-Straight in at 200.

-Wow.

-320. 40.

0:26:010:26:03

-60. 80. 400. 20. 40. 60. 80. 500.

-This is flying.

0:26:030:26:07

And then when it went above a certain price, the whole place was so quiet.

0:26:070:26:13

520. 540. 560. 580. 600. And 20. 640.

0:26:130:26:17

-Wow.

-660. 680. 700 here. And 20.

0:26:170:26:20

It was amazing.

0:26:200:26:22

-This is an upgrade.

-800.

0:26:220:26:23

-SHE GASPS

-This is an upgrade from economy.

0:26:230:26:26

840. 860.

0:26:260:26:28

-880. 900.

-£900.

0:26:300:26:34

920. 940.

0:26:340:26:36

960. 980.

0:26:360:26:39

Hey! This is wonderful!

0:26:390:26:41

£1,000. And 50.

0:26:410:26:44

-1,200. 1,250.

-First class soon.

0:26:440:26:47

1,300. 1,350.

0:26:470:26:49

-(Japan.)

-(Japan. Japan.)

0:26:490:26:52

1,400. 1,450.

0:26:520:26:54

-1,500. 1,550.

-Arigato.

0:26:540:26:58

-1,600. 1,650.

-Do you know Japanese for "this is absolutely bonkers"?

0:26:580:27:02

1,650 on the phone.

0:27:020:27:04

-1,650!

-At £1,650. Are you all done, then?

0:27:040:27:08

-What did we value it at?

-200 to 300.

0:27:080:27:11

-Phone bidder.

-HAMMER BANGS

0:27:120:27:15

-1,650.

-Wow!

-Wow!

-APPLAUSE

0:27:150:27:19

Absolutely amazing. I got a round of applause at the end of it as well.

0:27:210:27:24

Do you know, I just love it when that happens. Well done, Adam Partridge, as well.

0:27:240:27:27

'With her fantastic Flog It windfall,

0:27:270:27:30

'Barbara was able to go on and book her ticket to ride.'

0:27:300:27:34

It was beautiful. It was cherry blossom time.

0:27:340:27:37

Beautiful buildings. But we did go down a river which was like white-water rafting.

0:27:370:27:43

Very exciting...and scary. SHE LAUGHS

0:27:430:27:46

'Barbara brought back enough memories and souvenirs to last a lifetime.'

0:27:460:27:50

This is what I do when I get up.

0:27:500:27:54

I put on...my dressing gown.

0:27:540:27:58

Which reminds me of being in Kyoto and Japan.

0:28:020:28:06

And it is absolutely...beautiful.

0:28:060:28:10

'So, go on, search your home.

0:28:150:28:17

'You could be sitting on some treasure and not even know it.'

0:28:170:28:20

Well, that's it for today's show.

0:28:200:28:22

And if we've learnt anything on Flog It, it's take nothing for granted.

0:28:220:28:26

I hope we've given you some inspiration and some insider tips

0:28:260:28:30

on how to root out your very own bargains.

0:28:300:28:33

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:28:350:28:38

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